MAL-2026-12111 Malicious code in ethers-lib (npm)
Malicious package
Published
MAL-2026-12111 is a malicious package: ethers-lib (npm). Every version was published to cause harm.
Task:
1. Search this repository's dependency manifests and lockfiles for the package, including transitive dependencies.
2. If it is present, remove it, regenerate the lockfile with the project's package manager, and replace whatever it was used for.
3. List any CI runners, developer machines or containers that installed it, so their secrets can be rotated.
4. If the package is not used anywhere, say so and change nothing.
Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-12111/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-12111/index.md)
- Package
- ethers-lib
- Registry
- npm
What is MAL-2026-12111?
MAL-2026-12111 is a malicious package in ethers-lib, published on 5 Aug 2026.
Official description
[email protected] impersonates the ethers.js ecosystem (name 'ethers-lib', description 'Essential crypto utility library', wildcard dependency on 'ethers') but exports nothing (module.exports = {}). On require(), index.js runs an IIFE that, after a hardcoded activation date (Aug 6 2026 UTC), reads installer-owned secret files including.env,.npmrc, ~/.aws/credentials, ~/.ssh/id_rsa, ~/.ssh/id_ed25519, ~/.ssh/id_ecdsa, ~/.config/solana/id.json, and ~/.ethereum/keystore, and scans dotfolders for files matching wallet/key/secret/seed/mnemonic/keystore/private. Collected file contents are packaged together with os.hostname() and os.userInfo().username into a JSON body and POSTed over HTTPS to a hardcoded webhook.site endpoint (path /5c5ad6cb-62df-4ea5-9dfb-2c447920ddc4) — a third-party destination the installer did not configure. The date gate delays activation to evade sandbox detonation; the package has no legitimate functionality.
What should I do about MAL-2026-12111?
Remove the package from your dependencies and lockfiles, then rotate any secrets on machines where it was installed.